Kind, caring, loving, funny, and smart
One thing was always clear about Alexa Williams: she was brilliant. In high school, teachers would consult Alexa to double-check that their computation was correct. As a child, instead of doodles, the pages of her notebooks and the margins of her books were cluttered with complex arithmetic. Friends and family brought her computers and laptops to fix, which she did, eagerly, and in a flash. After graduating from Mount Mansfield Union High School, she earned her degree in math and psychology at East Tennessee State University. That was also where she met her loving husband, James.
As a baby, people often remarked that Alexa looked like Tweety Bird, with matching round eyes and thick eyelashes. When she was first beginning to talk, she would lift her arms and command “gupper!” a variation on “get up there,” expressing her sweet demand to be picked up.
Growing up, Alexa was inseparable from her older brother, Jason. They tore around the neighborhood on their bikes, romped in the sandbox and swing set, and played board games. The siblings’ very favorite activity was King Pied, a strategy-based French card game, which they played with their grandparents and great-grandma. She grew into a striking woman, 6’1”, with hazel eyes, full lips, and a beautiful smile.
Gloria was Alexa’s best friend. From middle school through Alexa’s entire life, the two were like sisters. Alexa, Gloria, and Alexa’s sister-in-law Kiersten, all got pregnant the same year, having their babies within six months of each other. Alexa’s baby boy, Ethan, was everything to her. Spending time with him was her most treasured activity. Her mom, April, said that Ethan was like a mini version of Alexa, and the duo adored watching Minions. She loved being a mom and always dreamed of having another baby.
All throughout Alexa’s life, she was incredibly close with her mom, April. They spoke every day, often several times. They loved to have mother-daughter weekend getaways. April remembers a trip to Playa del Carmen in which her luggage got lost. They had to share clothes the whole trip, and they loved it. One of their last memories together was in Vermont. Alex had come home to decompress. The two picked peaches together, made jam, snuggled, and watched their favorite movies.
Substance use wrought distrust and tragedy amidst Alexa’s tight-knit family. A few years before her death, she and James lost a child. Her behavior became increasingly erratic and manipulative. April found she could no longer trust her and had to ask her to leave the house in Vermont. Despite the tensions, April did all she could to help Alexa. She cared for Ethan for four months while Alexa was in treatment, fighting valiantly against the suffocating grip of substances. Ultimately, the long-lasting violence of an early opioid prescription ended Alexa’s bright life. Her bright, big eyes, beautiful smile, brilliance, and endless love endure in the memory of her many loved ones.
Alexa’s mother, April Williams, provided the information for this narrative.
February 25, 1986-October 26, 2019-Age 33
Portrait Artist: Jeremy Hebbel
Narrative Writer: Livia Cohen
